« Girardi faces heavy questioning
Main
Delcarmen closes it out for Sox »
April 14, 2008
-- Dustin Pedroia fielded a grounder, tagged out baserunner Melky Cabrera and fired to first for a key double play on a Johnny Damon grounder in the eighth.
"He (Damon) got jammed on it and Johnny's pretty fast, too," said Pedroia. "So I thought the only way I was going to get the double play was to tag him and throw to first. I got the ball a little bit behind (Cabrera), so he couldn't stop. That set the whole thing up. It kind of worked out. That was pretty nice."
-- The Red Sox captured the rubber game of the series despite the fact their top two relievers, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, were unavailable and struggling designated hitter David Ortiz had the night off.
"This team doesn't rely on just one player or two players," said infielder Kevin Youkilis, who went 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI. "We have 25 guys who want to go out and compete and battle every day."
-- Catcher Jason Varitek tried to sum up the troubles starter Daisuke Matsuzaka had with his command.
"He just couldn't get the feel for his pitches. We couldn't figure out which pitch to go to. He kind of struggled.The elements (cold, windy) may have had something to do with it, but you have to find a way to throw through that to solidify your delivery," said Varitek.
J.D. Drew, moved up to the number three spot because Ortiz was sitting this one out, went 0 for 3. But he did walk twice and score a pair of runs. He has scored 699 runs in his career . . . The six walks by Matsuzaka tied his career high . . . The Sox stole four bases, the first time they have swiped that many in a game since July 19, 2003, against Toronto. It was the first time they have stolen four bases in a game against the Yankees since May 3, 1995, at Yankee Stadium . . . The Yanks, down two runs, replaced Jose Molina for a pinch runner after his single in the eighth because he is hampered by a sore hamstring. That forced sore-shouldered Jorge Posada behind the plate, and the Sox took advantage, with two stolen bases in the bottom of the eighth. Molina hurt himself sliding into home in scoring a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 12:39 AM | Permalink
